remarkable story of a 23-year-old graduate student who struggled with an eating disorder until a group of angels step in to help. ABC's juju Chang is here with her inspirational journey. Juju. Reporter: Good morning, robin. Her name is Lauryn lax and her body so beaten by anorexia, she was so consumed by the disease she couldn't see it and said a prayer that morning but she would never have guessed which angels were about to come to her rescue. Another day, another grueling hour's long workout for Lauryn lax. At the ymca outside Nashville. A certain intensity and discipline in her workouts. Reporter: Some people at the gym took notice but were too polite to say anything to the 23-year-old who weighed a mere 79 pounds at the time. They guessed but they couldn't be sure that she was on the verge of dying from anorexia. I had been in treatment four types before not to mention the countless hospitalizations. Reporter: But this day was different. A group at the gym now known as the Nashville angels say that after watching Lauryn literally wither away, they worked up the courage to confront her. We saw a girl about to die. Reporter: This group of friends and strangers from the gym planned to take Lauryn to the hospital for an intervention. All of us felt that we are way out of our league here. Reporter: They contacted Lauryn's father through social media. Leaned in to someone's life they didn't know. She was so sick and exercising and starving herself to death. Reporter: And set up for a covert operation. We all met at the "Y" in the parking lot at dark and all parked our cars in separate locations. When we saw Lauryn's car pull in, we literally all converged on her and she was like a deer in headlights. We just said we're not taking no for an answer. Reporter: It's a moment Lauryn will never forget. They saved my life. That's why I call them my angels. Answered a prayer. Reporter: Her heartbeat slowed so much doctors almost had to put in a pacemaker. That's been profound to know we were that close to losing her. Reporter: Three years later she's healthier than ever and plans to save a few lives of her own. Helping others know that there is freedom and great purposes for them to live for that don't live all around, what they look like in the mirror. Taking her to the er that day literally saved her life and not an understatement. She spent a total of three days in icu, three weeks in the cardiac unit because her heart rate had gotten so dangerously low and now after 11 among months of recovery she's healthy, studying and wants to pay it forward and help others who are struggling. It takes a village. Hey, juju, congratulations. We know you've been named the new co-anchor of "Nightline,"

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Troian Bellisario on her struggles with an eating disorder and cutting herself and how she got help.

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